Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Meet as Their Battle Ends

WASHINGTON — With little affection or trust between them, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders met privately for nearly two hours on Tuesday night to size each other up as they started exploring what kind of alliance they might build for the general election battle against Donald J. Trump.

Yet Mr. Sanders chose to withhold his endorsement of Mrs. Clinton, several Sanders advisers said, because he wants her to take steps to win his confidence before the Democratic convention, where his supporters expect him to speak and Clinton advisers hope he will give her his full-throated backing.

Aides to Mrs. Clinton said she had never expected his endorsement Tuesday night. A statement from the Clinton campaign after the meeting described it as “a positive discussion about their primary campaign, about unifying the party and about the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation.” They discussed issues like raising wages and reducing college costs, and “agreed to continue working on their shared agenda, including through the platform development process for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.”

The Sanders campaign released a nearly identical statement, though it emphasized that the two candidates also spoke about “how best to bring more people into the political process” — a reflection of the strong support for Mr. Sanders among young people and independents.

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The presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton chastised her Republican rival, Donald J. Trump, on Tuesday for his response to the Orlando shooting, including his attacks on President Obama.Published OnJune 14, 2016CreditImage by Eric Thayer for The New York Times

Neither Democrat entered the meeting on sure footing, and both were a little tense, advisers in each camp said beforehand. At the end, they left the Capital Hilton through separate exits without speaking to the roughly two dozen reporters gathered there.

Mrs. Clinton, who became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee last week, spent the meeting trying to deduce what it would take to earn Mr. Sanders’s endorsement and whether he would seek policy concessions or political promises, several advisers said. Mr. Sanders focused on gauging the depth of Mrs. Clinton’s commitment to progressive goals like a higher minimum wage and lower financial burdens on college students, and to making the Democratic nomination process more open in the future.

The chemistry between the two candidates was strained, in part, because Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders had not had any real chances to air grievances or blow off steam with each other away from the television cameras during their 14-month fight for the nomination.

Mrs. Clinton had a few such moments with Barack Obama before they sat down for their own post-nomination tête-à-tête in 2008, which made it a little easier for them to come together, unite their party and win that November.

In a sign that they are still adjusting to each other, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders were joined in their meeting by Jane Sanders, Mr. Sanders’s wife; Jeff Weaver, his campaign manager; John D. Podesta, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman; and Robby Mook, her campaign manager.

Two advisers to Mr. Sanders said he thought Mrs. Clinton had said many of the right things at the meeting, but described him as concerned that she might embrace more politically moderate positions later if she thinks it necessary to win states like Florida, Ohio and Virginia.

The advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the campaign had not authorized them to speak, said Mr. Sanders felt no pressure to endorse Mrs. Clinton quickly. And he has leverage: He accrued about 12 million votes and nearly 1,900 delegates, and in a New York Times/CBS News poll last month, 28 percent of his supporters said they would not vote for Mrs. Clinton if she was the Democratic nominee. Mrs. Clinton picked up nearly 16 million votes and 2,800 delegates.

Whether Mr. Sanders endorses her enthusiastically and campaigns for her, or recognizes her as the nominee but otherwise withholds his blessing, is a significant concern for some Clinton advisers. Others in her campaign think that Democrats will ultimately unite because the possibility of a Trump victory is too great to ignore.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders met on the day of the Democratic primary in Washington, D.C., the final contest of the nominating process. Mrs. Clinton won 79 percent of the vote.

Mr. Sanders received a standing ovation when he dropped in at the Senate Democrats’ weekly lunch to speak about his campaign and pose for an official Senate photo with his colleagues. He has not been in the Capitol much of late; according to his website, he has not cast a vote since Jan. 12.

“It was very upbeat, very optimistic,” said Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: Clinton and Sanders Meet Privately as Primaries End in Washington. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe